COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team stayed with regionally-ranked perennial regional power Southern Connecticut State University until late in an 86-79 loss on Wednesday evening in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights are 2-11 overall and 1-7 in the Northeast-10 Conference, losing for the fourth time by 10 points or fewer. The Owls, who qualified for the last three NCAA Tournaments and are third in the latest D2SIDA East Region Media Poll, improved to 10-4 and 6-1 as leaders of the NE10 Southwest Division.

Senior Matt Bonds (Accokeek, Md./North Point) totaled 21 points, 13 rebounds, six offensive rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals for the hosts, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor and 9-for-11 on free throws. Sophomore Levi Holmes III (East Brunswick, N.J./Rutgers Prep) had 19 points behind 6-of-11 field goal shooting and a 5-of-5 charity stripe effort, while classmate Derek Cheatom (Buffalo, N.Y./The Park School of Buffalo) recorded a career-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Senior Zaire Williams (Paterson, N.J./Newark Academy) turned in eight points and five assists, while junior Colin Richey (Upton, Mass./Choate Rosemary Hall) had seven boards and three helpers. The Purple Knights shot 20-of-24 on free throws and 44.1 percent from the field to the Owls' 42.9 percent showing.

Bonds reached another milestone during his eighth double-double - and 10th 20-point game - of the season, forging past Fran Laffin '74 (925) to take over third in school history in rebounds, with 936 for his career. Laffin's son, Stephen Laffin (West Hartford, Conn./Northwest Catholic), is a first-year on this year's squad.

Senior Michael Mallory carried Southern Connecticut State with 40 points and four assists, shooting 8-of-11 from three-point range and 6-of-6 on free throws. Sophomore Isaiah McLeod added 13 points and classmate Joey Wallace notched 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Owls, who dressed only nine players, three of which fouled out. The visitors shot 12-of-24 from three while scoring only 30 points on two-point field goals.

Mallory hit two early threes, and Southern Connecticut State led 10-5 on first-year Noah Miree's lay-in at 14:54 of the first half. A 10-1 Purple Knight run ensued, with Holmes scoring the final six points to provide a 15-11 edge by 13:02, but four lead changes occurred by 8:50, when Bonds' three-point play sparked an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 25-18. Mallory netted seven points in a 12-5 response, tying the game on a triple with 4:19 left, prior to Cheatom scoring the first five points of a 9-0 run for the hosts, who led 39-35 at halftime.

The Purple Knights continued to lead for the opening seven-plus minutes of the second half, countering Owl points by scoring on the next possession four times, but a pivotal 17-4 run by the visitors put them ahead for good during the middle portion of the period. Mallory scored 10 of those points, with his jumper making it 63-54 with 9:41 to go. Saint Michael's rallied, as Bonds netted four straight points - including picking up a steal before throwing down a breakaway dunk - before Cheatom's three cut the deficit to two with 7:21 left.

Just 2:13 later, the Owls pushed their lead to 74-62 on Mallory's two free throws, and Bonds' putback dunk was met by a Wallace trey that created a 77-64 margin at 4:01. The hosts scored the next six points on three free throws - courtesy of a personal foul and a technical foul - and a Cheatom trey, and Williams' lay-in at 1:05 finished off an 11-2 run that brought his team within 79-75. The Owls salted the game away with a 7-of-10 free throw showing from there around four points by Holmes and three missed shots by his team.

The Purple Knights cap a four-game homestand on Saturday by taking on regionally-ranked Adelphi University at 3:30 p.m. The Panthers are ninth in the latest D2SIDA East Region Media Poll.